Averie Cooks » Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars with Pink Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars with Pink Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

by Averie Sunshine on February 13, 2012

I love cookies of all kinds but I have a soft spot for snickerdoodles cookies. However, it’s faster to make bars than it is to make cookies.

As I always say with bars, they are wham-bam-slap-it-in-a-pan whereas cookies require individual loving and more one-on-one attention.

These bars were so fast to make and were inspired by Crumbs and Chaos’ Sugar Cookie Bars as part of my Secret Recipe Club recipe of the month reveal today.

I have seen that recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars on many blogs, including Lori of Recipe Girl, Katrina’s Kitchen, Shelley of Cookies and Cups, Liz of Little Bitty Bakes, and floating around Pinterest.

Apparently people can’t resist sugar in bar form judging from how popular the recipe seems.

I do like sugar cookies but I like snickerdoodle cookies more so I tweaked the ingredients and reduced the yield to an 8 x 8 pan because I didn’t “need” a 13 x 18 pan of bars.

I knew this post was going to be revealed on the day before Valentine’s Day, so I made pink vanilla cream cheese frosting, sprinkled the bars with red sanding sugar, and added red, white, and pink candy bits.

I hope Cupid approves.

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Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars with Pink Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 16 to 20 bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a 8×8 or 9×9-inch pan by lining it with foil and then spraying it with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and mix until combined. Add the baking soda and flour and mix until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. The batter will be very thick and sticky, like cookie dough. Use your hands if necessary to spread it evenly. Bake at 375F for 19 to 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean. While the bars are baking, prepare the frosting.

Pink Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 to 4 1/2+ cups powdered sugar

splash of milk or water, if needed

(pink) food coloring, optional

In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese until combined and it begins to fluff. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar (one-half cup at a time after 3 cups) and mix until desired frosting consistency is reached. I like very thick frosting and used 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar with a splash of half and half. Carefully add the food coloring, one drop at a time, until desired color is reached. After the bars have cooled, frost them. Optionally, garnish with sprinkles, candy bits, sanding sugar, or any optional garnish of your choice. Consider storing the bars in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese and butter in the frosting; the bars freeze well and will keep in the freezer for up to three months.

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These bars are like snickerdoodle cookies, but in bar form. The cinnamon and sugar and the vanilla undertones tickled my snickerdoodle fancy.

The texture is soft and chewy, like a deep dish cookie.

The frosting is vanilla-infused, and has a little bit of a tang from the cream cheese, balancing the sweetness.

And everything tastes better when it’s pink and has candy bits and sprinkles on top.

If you prefer Snickerdoodle cookies in cookie form, try these White Chocolate Snickerdoodles that are dead ringers for the Mrs. Field’s Snickerdoodles I used to eat in the food court at the mall in high school.

And if you haven’t already completed your Valentine’s Day baking (or springtime, baby-shower, bridal shower, Easter, or girlie birthday party baking needs), there’s:

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies with PB Cups & PB M&M’s

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies (No-Bake, Vegan, GF)

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

And here’s a Valentine’s Day Roundup post with Food, Kitchen items, and shoes

Have you made anything festive for Valentine’s Day?

What are your Valentine’s Day plans?

We aren’t doing a thing and I have told Scott, please don’t buy me roses. They are especially overpriced in advance of Valentine’s Day, the quality is usually quite lackluster. I’d rather have $50 bucks to spend on shoes than roses, truth be told.

We’re not going out to dinner and who knows what I am cooking, but I think that something pink for dessert is in order.